818 Concubine Mei and Nan Xin

*Warning: this chapter and the next 2 chapters is not suitable for children below the age of 13. Also, Nan Xin's actions will make many of you uncomfortable, so you can skip the chapter if you don't really want to know. It's another action that challenges one's bottom line and morality (>.<). Please don't think of it as something normal people will do; this story is completely fiction. Readers' discretion is necessary.*

The prison only contained the males and was already full with so many people waiting in line for the execution, exile, demotion, and many others.

After all, they couldn't put too many in one place, or they would start conspiring.

It took some consideration before Concubine Mei and Nan Xin were placed in the same place. Unlike Nan Hou Xiang, they didn't actually have that much worth, and most of the time, they would just end up dead or exiled.

Women were not worth much and the same was true for concubines, especially those without powerful natal families. No one would actually care for them. Whether they lived or died was not the business of these people.

They only need to make sure that they would wait for the so called decision from the higher ups about what would happen to them.

They were not in prison.

Rather, they were put under a house arrest inside their quarter in Nan Shu Cheng's Residence.

With so many soldiers all around the place, it was close to impossible for them to escape and there were still so many things that were confiscated from Nan Shu Cheng's Residence.

No one was allowed to stay here except for the guards.

Some of the unfortunate maidservants were also locked up and would be faced with some punishment.

Some others were sent back to the household department for job reassignment.

A few of them were also sold to other people who were willing to buy them or their family members who were willing to redeem them back. After all, many servants were actually sold by their own family members in order to fill their stomachs.

They were poor.

And it was an extremely low chance for them to be redeemed back by their family members.

But some people who were willing to work hard and had prepared enough money were willing to do just that.

Thunk!

Concubine Mei tried to open the door, but it was firmly blocked from the outside. She let out an exasperated sigh and then looked at her daughter, who was sitting at the side.

"Nan Xin, help me open the door."

"What's the use? There are a lot of guards outside." Nan Xin kept on sitting. She was looking at the ground while thinking.

Many things had happened recently, making Nan Xin feel that her brain was somewhat overworking. Even though she was part of the Nan Family, Nan Xin didn't exactly inherit his father's brain.

Instead, she could be considered to be rather ordinary and stupid.

Nan Xin herself knew that she was not the smartest person around, but she still hoped that there was a way out of this mess. There was no way that she wanted to stay in this place for the rest of her life.

Would her life be well after they had decided what to do with her?

The daughters of traitors could either be exiled or even sold out as a slave or servants. As a pampered young miss, how could Nan Xin be able to endure that kind of life?

She would rather try to run away.

At the very least, there would be a way for her to keep her life without having to experience such bitterness.

Hearing her daughter's words, Concubine Mei knew that it would be difficult for her to escape either. How could they possibly allow her to be unguarded with so many guards around?

They would surely guard the place tightly.

And the two of them didn't even know martial arts or anything like that. Trying to fight these Imperial Guards would only earn them their death.

Should she just wait for the higher-ups to decide about them?

*sigh*

"If only I knew things would end this way, I'd have to fight harder when my parents want me to marry Nan Shu Cheng." Concubine Mei felt really helpless. She was not here because of her willingness but because her parents asked her to marry Nan Shu Cheng.

At first, she tried to argue.

In the end, it was useless, and all she could do was follow the arrangement that was already made by her parents and enter Nan Shu Cheng's Residence. Right now, she only thought that it would be good if she could get out alive.

Her family members were not completely innocent.

Concubine Mei would be the stupidest person if she thought that they would try to help her out. It would be good enough if those b*stards didn't try to send her to her grave earlier.

They wanted to make a good use of her to get the benefit of having a relationship with Nan Shu Cheng.

Now that Nan Shu Cheng had fallen, she was sure that they would be the first to deny having any relationship with her.

She was unsure whether they sold her to Nan Shu Cheng or just offered some benefits.

All in all, Concubine Mei felt extremely helpless.

No one was by her side and all that she could do was to try to help herself. Her maidservants were all in a different location and would be waiting for their own end from this matter.

She looked at the ceiling, feeling somewhat at a loss.

As a concubine that was not so favored, Concubine Mei was never involved in politics and what Nan Shu Cheng was doing. Her focus was simply on how to stay alive with Qu Fei Jiao repeatedly trying to frame her and attack her.

She wanted to survive.

She wanted to live with her daughter and, if possible, get out of this place.

Considering the guards' treatment and words, Concubine Mei knew that she would be executed tomorrow along with the other women from many other residences who were involved in the crime. Even if they were not executed, they would either be sold as slaves or exiled to a faraway place.

She couldn't accept this end.

Thud!

Sitting on the ground limpidly, Concubine Mei looked into the distance, feeling helpless and tired. She had been following the soldiers for an entire day, listening to what Nan Shu Cheng did behind their backs.

And as a woman, she was implicated because she was his concubine and had borne him a child.

Concubine Mei really felt that it was not fair.

She didn't do anything.

But all of those crimes were now pinned on her forehead as if she was the one who did it. She really wished that she could wash off all of those, but she didn't think that it would be possible in the slightest bit.

From the moment she married into Nan Shu Cheng's Family, she knew very well that her fate was tied up with them.

If she could have strong backing, she could get away.

But she had none.

"Nan Xin?" Concubine Mei turned to look at Nan Xin and noticed that her daughter had stood up at some unknown point.

Nan Xin was looking through the small window to outside. It was impossible to get out of this window even for her. She was looking outside.

When she felt that her entire world fell apart after her face was disfigured, she tried to seek countless doctors about this matter. Not a single one of them said that they could cure her.

Only one.

One strange person told her this was not much of a problem, but if she wanted his help, she needed to do something.

In the past, Nan Xin would never consider it. She might be desperate, but she was not that desperate to the point of doing a crime just in order to be able to restore her face. But now that she was facing the death sentence…

She didn't think it was that bad anymore.

"Mom."

"Yes?" Concubine Mei asked.

"You always teach me that in order to survive, one has to be ready to do anything, right?" Nan Xin asked in a soft voice.

Her expression was lowered, making Concubine Mei unable to see her expression. However, if she could see it, she would see that her own daughter was making a rather hideous face.

She had come to a decision earlier and felt that the only way for her to survive was to get out of this place.

Waiting for the higher ups to decide for her, would she have any good ending?

It was just a matter of which ending was better and which was worse.

Concubine Mei was stunned. Yes, she often said that to Nan Xin in order to make sure that the little girl was not easily taken advantage of by Madam Qu.